Although Grohl comes from punk rock beginnings (before joining Nirvana, he played in D.C. hardcore band Scream, signed to Ian MacKaye’s Dischord Records), he’s been rolling with classic rockers for a while, despite being a generation or two younger. So we decided we’d go through his classic rock credentials and roll out the highlight reel.

He can hang with Beatles.

Remember Backbeat? It was the 1994 film about the pre-fame career of Liverpool’s most famous sons. The soundtrack featured songs from the Beatles repertoire from their days as a cover band, including “Money” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” played by an alt-rock all-star band including Mike Mills of R.E.M., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and of course, Grohl. Years later, Grohl began a full-fledged bro-mance with McCartney that led to Sir Paul showing up in Sound City and writing “Cut Me Some Slack” with the surviving members of Nirvana. And let’s not forget all their on-stage jam sessions together, including the 2012 GRAMMYs.

He was almost a Heartbreaker.

Around the time that Nirvana dissolved following Kurt Cobain’s death, Tom Petty‘s longtime drummer Stan Lynch quit the Heartbreakers. Petty invited Grohl to join the band. Grohl sat in with the band on their performance on Saturday Night Live on November 19, 1994, but ultimately went on to form the Foo Fighters instead of sticking with Petty.

He can hang with metal’s most fearsome icons.

In 2000, Dave Grohl sang and played drums on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi’s “Goodbye Lament” from his debut solo album, Iommi. In 2004, Grohl put together an album under the name Probot, featuring a number of metal legends including Lemmy of Motorhead. Grohl and Lemmy, along with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, later recorded (of all things) a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Run, Rudolph Run” for the 2008 album We Wish You A Metal Xmas. Dave later paid Lemmy respect by appearing in the 2011 documentary, Lemmy: 49% Motherf***er, 51% Son of a B****. That same year, Lemmy appeared in the Foo Fighters‘ music video for “White Limo.”